TITLE:
Individual Essences in Avicenna’s Metaphysics
AUTHORS:
Muhammad Kamal
KEYWORDS:
Essence; Existence; Form; Matter; Substance; Universal; Particular; Individual Essence; Necessary Existence; Possible Existents and Metaphysics
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Philosophy,
Vol.4 No.1,
January
26,
2014
ABSTRACT: Central to Aristotle’s metaphysics is the question of individuality. The
individuality of each substance is explained in relation to “matter” because the “form” is universal.
Avicenna, as one of the Aristotelian Neoplatonist philosophers, is not content
with this explanation and proposes to establish individuality on other grounds.
In this paper, I argue that in his perspective it is not the “matter” which determines individuality but rather the
principle of existence.